Dark and Stormy Night…
by stella-pegasi
Summary: Its Halloween party time on Atlantis and Sheppard, along with his team, finds there is more than one way to celebrate when they encounter "ghosts" on an off-world mission.


**Title: **It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…

**Author: **stella_pegasi

**Rating: **K+

**Spoilers: **Brief references to Hide and Seek, The Siege Part III, Lifeline.

**Summary: **Its Halloween party time on Atlantis and Sheppard and his team find there is more than one way to celebrate when they encounter "ghosts" on an off-world mission.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own them; I would have treated them better.

**Notes: **Halloween is my favorite holiday (funny thing, it's John Sheppard's as well), and I wanted to write a SGA Halloween fic. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Dark and Stormy Night…**

_By stella_pegasi_

Lt. Colonel John Sheppard dropped to the forest floor, leaning against the rocky base of the cliff that rose behind him. He was exhausted from running along the dark, overgrown path. He fell down more than once as he ran, tripping over roots and broken branches, getting tangled in vines that grew along the ground, his arms and face cut and scraped. He waited for his breathing and heart rate to slow down before he tried to make sense of the last few hours.

"Where the hell are they?" he muttered to himself. His team, Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon, had disappeared, one by one, simply vanishing into thin air. He had tried to find them using the scanner but no life signs were registering, not even his. For a moment, he wondered if he was actually dead but decided that if he was dead, his body wouldn't hurt so much. No, he was pretty sure he was alive and covered in ugly bruises.

The planet's twin moons, clearly visible in the sky when they came through the gate, had disappeared, shrouded in storm clouds. The wind, which had blown at gale force earlier and then abruptly stopped, had returned but was barely a breeze, just rustling the leaves of the large trees above him. A huge storm was raging toward the east; thunder, muffled by the wind, reaching his ears and the intense lightning cast an eerie glow over the forest. At least, the bloodcurdling screams had stopped for now.

He tried to piece together what had happened; Rodney was the last of his team to disappear, and Sheppard had lost consciousness moments later. He had no concept of how long he was unconscious, when he woke up his watch wasn't working, but it was still pitch black. He had tried to get to the gate, but the details of why he didn't make it were fuzzy. Images of gray clouds floated in his head, gray clouds that had caused him to turn and run back into the forest; he had been afraid. He just couldn't remember why.

Sheppard took a drink of water from his canteen and grabbed a power bar out of a pocket on his TAC vest; he had expended a lot of energy and knew he had to keep his strength up. Sitting in the dark, doing nothing went against his instincts; he should be looking for his team. However, he knew from survival training that he couldn't help them by not taking care of himself. He decided he probably should get over always feeling guilty for doing that. Sheppard's thoughts drifted back to the way their day had begun, just a few hours before.

~ooOoo~

Sheppard had entered the mess hall to find Teyla and Ronon already having breakfast. Rodney noisily arrived behind him with Dr. Zelenka in tow.

"Zelenka, don't forget to check with Aarons and make certain she has the wig ready…I am nothing tonight without that wig. And make sure that the team working on the new ancient tech has everything secured. Sheppard won't be able to light up anything today and after suffering through that planet with the disgusting snakes, I don't want to lose any of that tech to some idiot who doesn't know what he's doing. They need to be careful not to activate…" Rodney was talking at the speed of light as usual, grabbing breakfast as he spewed out orders for Dr. Zelenka.

"McKay, give it a rest; let Dr. Z get his breakfast." Sheppard had turned around, glaring at Rodney.

"Yeah, yeah…Mr. Military…well, I have lots of things that need to be taken care of today. I need to go over everything before we leave on another wonderful adventure to the wilds of Pegasus!"

Looking around McKay, Sheppard asked the smaller scientist, "Radek, how many times has McKay gone over this with you?"

With a slight smile and shrug of his shoulders, Zelenka replied, "Four times just this morning, colonel."

"I thought so."

Turning back to McKay, the colonel pointed to the table where Teyla and Ronon were and simply said, "Sit." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Zelenka stifle a laugh. Sheppard finished getting his breakfast and followed McKay.

"What's your problem this morning, Sheppard? " McKay dropped into the chair next to Teyla, already stuffing a sweet roll into his mouth.

"Rodney, I don't have a problem unless listening to you running your mouth at the crack of dawn counts as a problem." He saw a huge grin appear on Ronon's face as he chided Rodney.

Teyla decided that an intervention between Dr. McKay and the colonel would be a good idea; these "discussions" between the two men sometimes escalated into arguments. She knew it was rare for them to be truly angry at each other but the evening was to be fun, and she wanted a congenial day as well. "Good morning, colonel, Dr. McKay; this is going to be a very good day. I and my people are looking forward to our first real Halloween celebration. The costume party tonight has the children very excited." Teyla's beautiful smile lit up her face at the thought of the party.

Sheppard shoved a large forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth and then mumbled, "What's Torren going to wear?"

"Oh, from what I understand of your traditions, I believe that is supposed to be a secret, colonel. If I tell you, you will know who he is when he arrives." She grinned at the colonel.

Before Sheppard could reply, Rodney quipped, "Yeah, like we won't know a two-foot tall toddler running through Atlantis, unless we mistake him for Zelenka."

Dr. Zelenka was sitting at the table behind them and heard McKay's comment. "Rodney, do you want me to do your errands for you today? If you do, you should be nice."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

Teyla looked at the colonel. "I suppose you will not tell us what your costume will be, John."

Sheppard sat back in his chair, a blank expression on his face, "Not saying a word." He knew his costume wasn't very original, but he hoped that some of the first expedition members would remember the things they did during their earliest few months together.

Teyla then turned to Dr. McKay, "What will be you wearing to the party?"

McKay flashed an evil grin and said, "I'm not telling, but it will be memorable." Seeing that Rodney was obviously quite pleased with himself, Sheppard had a feeling that he was not going to like Rodney's costume. They spent the remainder of breakfast speculating on what the rest of Atlantis was going to wear, especially Richard Woolsey, the somewhat prim and proper leader of the Atlantis expedition. Visions of Woolsey in costume created a lot of laughter.

Finishing the last of his coffee, Sheppard leaned his elbows on the table, "You know Stargate Command was a bit taken back by our request for costumes and Halloween candy and decorations. Apparently, the IOA was quite put out that we would want to spend money on such a 'frivolous' event. Not sure how General Landry swung financing this but personally, he thought having a Halloween party was a pretty good idea for morale."

Ronon had finished a huge plate of eggs, bacon, several pieces of toast and was in the process of stealing a sweet roll off of McKay's plate. "I don't get it. How does this party help morale? Seems kind of silly to me."

Sheppard was watching Rodney, who couldn't figure out what happened to his roll, before he answered, "It is silly but sometimes silly is good. It's getting to be someone else for awhile and enjoying what your friends have dressed up as and just party. It's a release and releasing tension is good for morale."

Rodney was now glaring at Ronon, who was licking the sweet roll's icing off his fingers, smiling mischievously at the scientist. Rodney looked dejected; that was his favorite type sweet roll, and he always saved it to eat last.

Trying not to laugh at Rodney's disappointment, Sheppard continued. "It wasn't great for Colonel Caldwell's morale though, one of the pilots on the Daedalus said that Caldwell wasn't too amused at taking up valuable cargo space for witch's hats and candy. He was also not amused that Landry invited the Daedalus crew to the party without his approval; perks of being the general in command of the SGC."

McKay looked at Sheppard with a very knowing look on his face, "Yeah, Sheppard; I wonder how Landry did pay for all the stuff we ordered?" Sheppard was a bit surprised at Rodney's comment and his insinuation that Sheppard might know more about who paid for all the party supplies and costumes.

"Rodney, I don't have any idea. I'm just glad he wanted to help make this happen. The Athosian kids have been through a lot, and this will be a fun time for them and for all the big kids on Atlantis that have been through hell as well." Rodney was still looking at him with that same 'don't try to fool me look' on his face. Sheppard was pretty certain that Rodney was only guessing that he had something to do with paying for the party. Besides, what else was he going to do with the money he inherited from his father's estate?

He was about to get up to get more coffee when Rodney asked Ronon, "Hey, big guy, what are you dressing up as, Conan the Barbarian perhaps?"

Sheppard paused; waiting to see if he needed to call EMTs but Ronon just grunted, giving Rodney a death glare. He patted the scientist on the shoulder, "Rodney…I think Ronon might be going as a pissed-off Satedan soldier. I don't think it's a good idea to make him madder."

Banter about the party continued following breakfast, while they were in the gear-up room and on into the gate room. Rodney was still pestering Ronon when the wormhole activated, and they stepped through the gate.

~ooOoo~

The Ancient database had some very enigmatic entries about the planet they were visiting. Reports of unusual weather patterns, strange energy readings and while there were no detailed records of contact with inhabitants, the Ancients had noted that there were beings there.

They emerged from the gate into darkness; it was night on the planet but twin moons bathed the gate and the wide-open area surrounding it in pale moonlight. They often gated to planets where the day/night cycles were different from Atlantis, but it still was disconcerting and took them a few minutes to become acclimated to the change. Sheppard walked to the edge of the stone platform that the gate stood on and looked around, taking in what he could of their surroundings. What might have once been a well tended garden around the gate was overgrown and appeared to have been abandoned for many, many years. He had an overwhelming feeling that this planet was very old and held a lot of secrets.

Gnarled vines encircled the gate itself, only the area where the event horizon had reached away from the gate during activation was bare of undergrowth. Rodney panicked for a second when he couldn't locate the DHD but Teyla quickly pointed out a large 'bush' standing in the center of a second stone platform. The 'bush' was the DHD, covered in brambles and thick vegetation.

"Hang on, McKay." Ronon strode up to the DHD and withdrew an enormous machete-like knife from the sheath hanging on his back. A few swift strokes of the knife and he cleared the majority of the growth from the dial home device.

McKay rushed over and opened the crystal chamber. "It's okay, the DHD has power and all the crystals are intact."

Sheppard moved down the overgrown path toward the dense forest that surrounded it, "All right, McKay, can you give us an idea of what time it is here?"

"Give me a second," Rodney looked up at the moons to see where they were in the sky and then punched some numbers on his pad. He announced that it was approximately 2330 hours.

"OK, boys and girl…let's go look around." With that, the colonel took point, Rodney behind him and Teyla and Ronon at the rear and they headed out along an overgrown path that led into the forest.

They expected it to be darker in the forest; the tall canopy of leaves was very thick, but this forest was beyond dark. All light from the P-90 scopes was being absorbed inches from the source and more than once, they all stumbled or tripped.

Sheppard was getting annoyed when even the light sticks weren't providing them very much light, "Listen, I vote we go back to Atlantis and return here on another day when the sun is up so that we can actually see where the hell we're going."

Ronon was about to agree when he fell over a huge root that was growing along the side of the path. Moaning as he got up, "Sheppard, let's get out of here before one of us gets hurt."

That was all the colonel needed, "OK people, let's do an about-face, and see if we can get back to the gate in one piece."

As they turned toward the gate, a cold wind began to gust, within seconds, gaining enough strength to blow Teyla off her feet. She fell into Rodney, who barely managed to keep them upright. Ronon stepped in front of Teyla attempting to block the wind from blowing directly on the petite woman. Sheppard grabbed Rodney by his TAC vest and pushed him toward the direction of the gate, the wind at their back. Then, just as suddenly, the wind ceased and the leaves that had been spinning around them floated back to the ground.

Rodney was out of breath but managed to croak, "What the … that was _not_ normal wind."

"Rodney, didn't you say that the database mentioned some weird weather here?"

"Yes, it did, Sheppard, but it didn't say how weird. That wind came out of no where. It can't be natural, not for it to come up that quickly, blow that hard, and then just stop. It was like someone turned off a switch."

"Well, let's not stand here waiting for it to start again. Get moving." Acting on Sheppard's words, Ronon led the way, holding tightly onto Teyla. They had only gone a few feet when a bloodcurdling scream came from somewhere to the west of their location.

Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla immediately took position in front Rodney, guns at the ready. Sheppard quietly asked Rodney, "Anything on the scanner?"

"Nothing but us; if there is something out there it's out of range of the scanner."

"OK, let's get going." But as he turned to follow the others, he realized that Ronon was not with them. He and Teyla began surveying the immediate area and yelling for Ronon. He turned back to Rodney.

"Rodney, where is he?"

"Sheppard, he's not showing up on the scanner…he's vanished. It's just showing us."

"Crap," was Sheppard's only reply.

"Colonel, I heard nothing; he was right here, where could he have gone?" Standing next to Rodney, Teyla's normal calm demeanor was absent. Her face and voice filled with an anxiety that Sheppard wasn't used to hearing from her.

"Let's get back to the gate, contact Atlantis, and get some Marines and a jumper here," The remaining team members moved as quickly as they could on the uneven terrain toward the gate. Then another scream pierced the air, and Sheppard caught a movement off to his left and saw several large green globes embedded in swirling grey light that seemed to be suspended about eight feet above the forest floor. He raised his weapon and shot off a couple of rounds. The lights disappeared.

"Sheppard, what the hell was that?" Rodney looked at the scanner to let Sheppard know if he could find any other life forms.

"No, no, no, no…Sheppard, it's just us, just you and me!" Turning to look in all directions, he continued, "Teyla's gone, too!"

Sheppard spun around, his green eyes flashing in Rodney's P-90 scope light just as the lights in the forest had. "What the hell do you mean she's gone? She was right next to you, McKay!"

"I don't know where she went; she's just gone!"

Sheppard kicked the nearest tree with his steel-toed boot and yelled, "This is not happening! They cannot just vanish without some trace! Rodney, was there a flash of light like they were beamed out or something...Rodney?" When Rodney didn't reply, Sheppard turned toward the place Rodney had been standing and found that Rodney was gone as well. He heard another bloodcurdling scream and flashes of green and grey all around him, and the wind began to blow again; then the colonel lost consciousness.

~ooOoo~

Colonel Sheppard woke up lying on the ground where he had fallen. The wind was still blowing but not as hard as it had been earlier. He could hear thunder, in the distance, and the constant lightning from the storm cast a pale blue light on the forest. He did a mental check of his condition and other than a headache and being really pissed, he thought he was ok.

He couldn't make sense of what had happened or where his team could be. When he tried to remember, his mind filled with visions of swirling grey light and green orbs. He could feel the horrible wind and hear the piercing screams in his head but couldn't focus on any of it. The one thing he did know was that he had to get back to Atlantis for help.

Gingerly, Sheppard stood up using a tree as support to keep him upright until the dizziness faded. Once he felt in control, he began walking quickly toward the gate, trying not to trip any more than possible. Even being careful, he fell several times as he made his way back to the stargate.

The path seemed darker on the way back, even with the pale light from the lighting. Then he remembered that earlier, he still had three team members with him providing light from their scopes and light sticks. He was getting close to the edge of the forest when he felt something tinged with electricity brush him from behind. Turning, he saw a swirling cloud of gray light hovering above him, twin bright green glowing orbs floated in the top of the cloud. Sheppard quickly scrambled away but the light kept edging closer to him. The wind began to blow stronger; the entire forest filled with screams.

He had turned to run when he felt the electric sensation brush past him, and he watched the cloud move rapidly in the direction of the gate. Sheppard took off in pursuit; he had no clue what he was following, but it might be his only link to finding his team, and he was determined to find them.

Reaching the edge of the clearing where the gate stood, Sheppard abruptly stopped when he realized that the gate was active; he took cover behind a large tree. One by one, more of the gray shapes were flowing through the event horizon to join the ones waiting for them. The shapes seemed to be communicating; he could hear sounds, almost like the sound a harmonica makes, coming from the dais. The entire area glowed in shimmering light that emanated from the "ghosts," as he was beginning to think of them, and from the green orbs that were a part of their "head." The glow made it difficult to see details, but the colonel could tell that the specters were standing in a circle on the stone platform. He raised his P-90 and used the scope to see if he could tell what was happening.

"Crap." His team was laying side-by-side on the stone dais that surrounded the gate apparently unconscious; at least, he hoped they were just unconscious. His heart was pounding, and his head was spinning from trying to figure out his next step. He couldn't take all those "things" on by himself, and if he tried, Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon wouldn't have a chance. He had to wait to see what was going to happen and hope that these "ghosts" would leave the gate so that he could contact Atlantis.

~ooOoo~

"He is observing."

One of Colonel Sheppard's ghosts was speaking to another entity, who had just exited the gate. They were very aware that the colonel was hiding behind a tree along the edge of the forest. The ghosts were actually sentient beings with corporeal human-like bodies, possessing telepathic abilities. They were a very old race called the Worvans, one of the oldest inhabitants of the Pegasus Galaxy, existing before the Lantian's came on their city ship. A cosmic event, occurring many thousands of years before, had caused a shift in their molecular structure and only an imprint of their energy was visible to humans. To Sheppard and his team, their bodies appeared as swirling grey light; the green orbs reflected light off their very large eyes.

The Worvans abandoned this planet a very long time ago for a planet that made their existence more tolerable. They visited their original home world often; a pilgrimage that many made several times in their lifetime. The planet had become a kind of amusement park for the Worvans. They had fun with the effect they had on the environment; things that they could not do on their new world. Here, they could control the weather by the electric current they projected, creating intense lighting and strong winds. The Worvans also discovered, to their delight, that when they called to each other over a short distance that their voices became shrill screams that reverberated across the forest. They loved going deeper into the forest to a lake where the screams grew in intensity as they called to each other from across the water.

They were having fun showing off to their visitors, enjoying how the humans reacted with fear until they recognized one as a Lantian. They had not encountered the Lantians for many generations and decided that these humans needed to be studied. They sent word to their world to send scientists to assist them.

"The dark-haired one, who is hiding, he is Lantian."

Pointing to Rodney, the other one said, "He has an echo of the Lantians' genetic structure, but I do not think he is one; he must be artificial. The other two are of this galaxy."

The new arrival looked at Teyla and Ronon and commented, "It is good to see that the Wraith have not wiped out all the galaxy's inhabitants." Looking toward the forest, he wondered about the colonel. "The one who watches is strong and very concerned for his companions. If we are to study the others longer, we must keep him at a distance from us. The Lantian's could always sense that we were more than the mist when they got too close. It made them very curious."

The other ghost remarked, "The humans, even the Lantians, have always reacted fearfully to our movements. Perhaps we need to frighten him so that we can gain some distance between us until we are ready. We should also confuse him a bit, that way it will take him a while to get oriented and try to return. If we have completed our cerebral scans before he awakes, then we will transport him back here before we leave. It is a good thing that the transport device works on them, even if we cannot use it here."

"I will tell the others."

~ooOoo~

Sheppard was getting impatient. He stealthy moved from one tree to another for a better view of his teammates, but the ghosts blocked his view. He felt like simply rushing up, dialing the DHD, and making a run for the event horizon, but he thought better of it. He would just have to wait.

Then the wind began to blow harder and harder, lightning crashing all around him, as the sound of thunder reverberating in his ears. The screaming began once more, and Sheppard crouched behind a large tree trying to remain hidden as streaks of lightning brightened the night sky. As he peeked around the tree to see what was happening at the gate, he saw several gray shapes and flashing green orbs coming straight at him. He ran.

~ooOoo~

Leaning his head against the rock wall, Sheppard wondered how they always seemed to get into these situations. He had considered that perhaps this was all simply a figment of his imagination. He muttered out loud, "Seriously John; its Halloween. Could that be why you are seeing ghosts and hearing screams in the middle of horrible thunderstorms?" Then he just shook his head, hoping he wasn't that far gone. All he knew was that he had been scared out of his wits and had run like hell; he was embarrassed enough about that. He normally kept his fear in check, but for some reason, these ghosts unnerved him. The only consolation was that Rodney hadn't been with him during his hasty retreat; he would have never lived that down.

Sheppard finished the powerbar and drank a bit more water, taking a couple of Advil to ease his headache and the achiness spreading across his body from the numerous falls. He stood up and tried to stretch out his sore muscles. "Oh…crap…I'm going to hurt tomorrow." He decided to head back toward the gate; if he was lucky, the ghosts would be gone.

~ooOoo~

As he approached the edge of the forest surrounding the gate, the wind began to pick up, blowing faster and faster. The sky was getting lighter and he hoped that, with daybreak, the ghosts would go away and he could get his team back to Atlantis.

He once again hid behind the same large tree, was relieved to see his teammates were still there. Teyla, Rodney, and Ronon were lying on the platform but had been moved to the side. One of the ghosts left the gate platform appeared to float toward the DHD. He knew that if they tried to take his team through the gate, he would have to follow. Quietly, he moved behind another tree that was in direct line with the gate.

The ghost reached the DHD, hovering over the device as the gate began to dial. Sheppard stepped from behind the tree, trying to see the symbols that were being dialed, but the ghosts kept floating over and around the DHD blocking his view. He was getting ready to run if they started to move his team through the gate.

Without warning, one of the ghosts abruptly turned and quickly floated toward him. Sheppard darted behind the tree but began to feel dizzy and was unable to move. He was losing consciousness, but before he completely passed out, he thought he heard a voice speaking to him, "Lantian, they are not harmed. We were just curious; we have not seen your kind in a very long time. Go away from here, this is not your place." Then everything went black.

~ooOoo~

The sun was above the horizon when Colonel Sheppard woke; he was lying on something hard, not the ground where he fell. He struggled up and realized he was lying on the platform; spinning around he saw his team still in the same position. Rodney was laying the closest and, heart pounding, he ran to him, dropping on one knee to check for a pulse. He bowed his head in relief when he felt a strong, steady beat under his finger tips.

He gently shook McKay to wake him; glancing over at the others, he could see they were both breathing well, and he felt his own breathing slow. McKay began to stir, moaning something about weird lights. Sheppard helped him sit up, "McKay, how do you feel?"

"Shep…Sheppard…?"

"Yeah, it's me, Rodney; come on...let's see if you can stand up." Sheppard grabbed him by the arm and helped McKay get to his feet. McKay was a bit wobbly but waved the colonel off and stood on his own. Sheppard watched him for a second and then said, "Check Teyla…wake her up, so we can get out of here; I'll get Ronon."

McKay smiled slightly, "Better you than me; I'd duck if I were you."

Sheppard laughed for the first time since they arrived on the planet. "I'll be careful, Rodney. Don't want Chewie to hit me either."

Within a few minutes, Teyla and Ronon were on their feet, seemingly alright but all of them were confused.

"Colonel, what happened to us?" Teyla gazed at Sheppard, a puzzled look on her face.

"Teyla, I don't know. They didn't take me like they did you guys; but I doubt I know anymore than you do."

McKay looked pensive and shook his head, "I remember that all of you vanished, and I passed out. I felt like I was in a dream, surrounded by mist, and it was almost like someone was trying to talk to me, but I couldn't understand them.

Ronon spoke up, "Hey...all of you disappeared at the same time, couldn't have happened that way."

Teyla quickly added, "No, all of you disappeared first."

Sheppard shook his head, "No…I don't think it happened that way; they never took me. I was unconscious a couple of times...I think, but I wasn't held captive. All of you vanished one after another; you just don't remember."

Teyla looked at him and started to speak and then stopped; she didn't know what to say. Rodney, however, had one thing on his mind. "People, let's go home."

No one disagreed; Rodney dialed the gate, and the team returned to Atlantis.

~ooOoo~

Stepping into the gate room, the team was dazed for a moment by the bright sunlight, streaming through the stained-glass windows. It was 1547 hours; their mission lasting approximately seven hours. After meeting with Woolsey for a brief update, they reported to the infirmary for their post-mission check up and were given a clean bill of health. Dr. Jennifer Keller was perturbed by the confusion they seemed to have regarding the events that occurred on the planet, but the Ancient scanner revealed no issues. With a warning to come see her immediately if they got dizzy or more confused, Keller released them to active duty.

With the party only a few hours away, Woolsey postponed the mission debrief until the following morning. Teyla left them to join Torren and Kanaan, while Ronon decided to work out. McKay muttered something about needing to go to his lab after he changed clothes. Sheppard decided a hot shower to relax his sore muscles and then a nap was all he wanted.

As they entered the transporter, Rodney sighed, shaking his head. "Sheppard, I can't figure out what the hell went on back there. I remember something about some ghost-like figures and bright green lights and the weather being really weird, but I can't remember anything else."

"All I remember is that those ghosts had the three of you, and I kept running like hell and then kept passing out."

"Fainting, you mean." McKay taunted Sheppard.

Giving Rodney a stony glare, "Passing out, Rodney, I passed out."

McKay laughed, "Sure, if you say so, but I would have given anything to watch you run from those things. That had to be a sight; Sheppard running from some little ghosts!"

"Laugh it up, McKay; you would have been right there with me if you hadn't fainted."

"I didn't faint; for your information, I was knocked out, Sheppard."

They continued to bicker until they reached the corridor leading Sheppard's quarters. Before he parted from Rodney, Sheppard paused for a minute. "You know, Rodney, this all feels like a Halloween prank; I know that it happened and I know what I saw. Yet, I still can't get my head around it being real. Let's not do that again."

Rodney nodded in agreement. Sheppard grinned and as Rodney walked away, he called out, "See you at the party." Rodney threw up his hand and Sheppard heard him mutter, "Oh, yes you will, Colonel Sheppard. Yes, you will." Sheppard wondered what that meant, deciding it couldn't be good.

A few hours later, after a nap, Sheppard was getting dressed for the Halloween party. He had chosen his costume, mostly for the Athosian children; after all, he had made them football fans. When the expedition first arrived on Atlantis, the Athosian population relocated to Atlantis after a Wraith culling. It was then that Sheppard started teaching the Athosian children how to play football. Later, circumstances took them away from Atlantis but the Athosians had now returned to live on the mainland of Atlantis' new planet. He tried to visit the kids as often as he could and teach them a bit more about the game. He decided to go to the Halloween party as a college football player for them.

There hadn't been any question as to which player he would be. The only choice was Doug Flutie, the Heisman Trophy winner from Boston College. Flutie was the quarterback who threw the infamous "Hail Mary" pass in the Orange Bowl against the University of Miami many years before. It had been difficult finding a uniform just like Flutie's, but Sheppard had called in a favor from an old college friend who had connections at Boston College. Somehow, his friend managed to find a uniform from 1984 and now Sheppard was standing in front of his mirror, wearing the maroon and gold of the Boston College Eagles, putting eye black under his eyes. His buddy had sent him everything; pads, socks, cleats, helmet, pants, a jersey with the number 22 and Flutie's name on it, and a brand-new football, autographed by Doug Flutie. Sheppard smiled…that he wasn't expecting.

He wondered if any of the original expedition members would remember why he really wanted to wear this costume. They could only bring one small personal item with them when they embarked on the expedition; he had chosen a DVD of the Orange Bowl "Hail Mary" game. Once the stressful events of the first few days calmed somewhat, they took an evening off to relax. After telling a ghost story of his own, a _Friday the 13__th_ movie, to the Athosian children, he played the football DVD for a few of his teammates; the first of their 'game nights.' From that night on, the game night attendees increased as scientists and military alike came together for fun and companionship. For a very long time the Flutie game was the only DVD they had to watch; but watch they did.

That first night was the night that Teyla was introduced to popcorn, which was now her favorite food. Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the first Director of the Atlantis Expedition, had not been a football fan, but she had joined them. Rodney had been very unhappy that night, having attached a small ancient personal shield that he had found to his body and then could not remove. For most of the evening, he continually complained he was going to die from starvation because he couldn't get food past the shield. They had been joined that night by Lt. Aiden Ford, a great kid and a damn good soldier; he missed that kid, never getting over the pain of losing him. Sheppard's guilt over losing Elizabeth, Ford, and all the others that were gone was intense and this night, he wanted to honor them with a remembrance of those early game nights.

He had one last thing to do; he pinned a small black ribbon to the sleeve of the jersey. With that, he picked up the helmet and football and headed for the party.

~ooOoo~

The mess hall had been decorated by volunteers from the science and military contingent; the Marines doing most of the actual labor under Major Lorne's supervision. Sheppard left his X-O in charge of the decorations; he figured Lorne's artistic talent would come in handy. The overhead lights were turned off; the only illumination came from strings and strings of small orange lights that lined the ceiling and walls and from candles scattered about the room. The tables were covered in black linens, pumpkins of varying sizes, carved with ugly faces, and filled with candles, served as the centerpieces. The Marines had volunteered to carve all the pumpkins and Sheppard secretly thought they just wanted to use their K-Bars on something.

Sheppard lingered at the doorway to take it all in. He had convinced Woolsey and Landry that the Atlantis team needed a party and that Halloween, his favorite holiday, would be the perfect time. His first impression of the room was that it looked perfect; a lot of work had gone into making it look eerie and mysterious. There was a foggy look to the room which made him shudder; he had ordered the fog machine but this night, after the day they had endured, he wasn't certain the fog machine was a good idea.

He heard his name called and, looking toward the food table, he saw Jinto, son of Halling, one of the Athosian leaders, running toward him. Now 16, Jinto had grown into a tall, handsome young man, currently dressed as Jason from the movie. Sheppard chuckled, at least someone remembered the first story he had told the kids.

Jinto smiled broadly, as he stopped in front of Sheppard. "Colonel, you are a football player! Twenty-two, that is the number of Doug Flutie; that is so cool! We have never seen a real uniform; these are the pads?" He touched Sheppard's shoulder to feel the plastic pads. "This is really cool! Guys, come here!" He motioned to his friends to join them.

Sheppard laughed at his use of Earth slang; many of the Marines liked this kid and spent a lot of time with him and his friends. It was not surprising that they were picking up the Marines lingo. Sheppard was hoping they hadn't picked up more than simple lingo; Teyla would have his hide if the Athosian children started cussing like the Marines. He was soon surrounded by boys and girls dressed as cowboys and Indians, an astronaut, a clown (which made him shiver, he loathed clowns), superheroes, and what he decided were Athosian characters.

He had to admit to himself that one small boy about nine years old really caught his eye. The little blond-haired boy was dressed in a miniature uniform of an Atlantis scientist and on his shirt was a nametag that identified him as Dr. R. McKay. Sheppard remembered the last time Rodney went with him to the village that this little boy had followed Rodney the entire time they were there. All Sheppard could do was cringe…Rodney would be insufferable, but the little guy looked cute.

An announcement for an apple-bobbing contest sent the kids running. Sheppard headed for the food table, where he filled up a plate, then made his way through the crowd. He was surprised by how many times he was stopped, everyone talking about his football uniform. A couple of the Marines and a scientist or two remarked on the original Hail Mary DVD; he was pleased, they did remember.

"Colonel...John...come join us!" Turning toward Teyla's voice, he spotted his team sitting at a table against the wall. Ronon was dressed as a pirate, while Amelia Banks was an English lady from the 1800s, apparently captured by the by the pirate. Sheppard was surprised to see Ronon dressed in costume, deciding Amelia must be very persuasive. Teyla was dressed as Cleopatra, and Kanaan, as a Roman Senator; Torren, sat in Kanaan's lap.

Kanaan looked very authentic as a Roman senator with his dark hair and patrician nose, but Teyla looked amazing. She was wearing a long, straight dark wig and a beautiful white flowing gown; her large brown eyes rimmed in black. Torren, dressed as a very cute black cat, squealed and reached for his Uncle John. Sheppard put his plate down and picked the toddler up.

"You guys look great! Ronon, big guy, didn't think you would dress up for the party."

Ronon grunted but Amelia answered, smiling, "He didn't have a choice, colonel. It's only right that he participate in the fun."

"Well, you look good. Being a pirate suits you; can't wait for you to scare Rodney." Turning to Teyla and Kanaan, "You both look great; forgive me, Kanaan, but Teyla, you look very beautiful." Looking at Torren, "Doesn't your mommy look pretty, Torren?" Torren squealed again. "I think that was a yes."

Teyla took Torren back, "Let Uncle John enjoy his meal, Torren. He can play with you later." Looking back at Sheppard, she continued, "Colonel, you look very handsome. I saw all of the children run to you when you arrived; they were very excited. That is the uniform of the Hail Mary game, is it not?"

"Yes, it is. I was wondering if you would remember. I wondered if any of the people who came here at the beginning would remember how we used to get together just to watch that video over and over." Sheppard had a difficult time looking at her as he spoke.

"I believe we will always remember those nights, John, and those who are no longer with us. You honor them by reminding us of that time. And of course, there was the popcorn!"

They were having fun discussing what everyone was wearing when the room became instantly quiet. Woolsey and Colonel Caldwell had walked in…in costume. Woolsey was the Goa'uld System Lord, Apophis, and Caldwell was dressed as Teal'c. The room erupted in applause and laughter; the Atlantis and Daedalus Marines and airmen quickly forming a line on each side of the aisle for the pair to walk through. The two men carried themselves quite regally as they passed through the 'honor guard.'

"Well, that was unexpected; wonder how the real Teal'c will react when he sees the picture of Caldwell, dressed like him, complete with Jaffa staff weapon and gold symbol on his forehead?" Sheppard laughed. "I would love to be a fly on the wall when Teal'c confronts him."

Kanaan, who had met Teal'c when he recently visited Atlantis, asked, "Do you think that Teal'c will know of this, colonel?

Watching several of the Daedalus crew take pictures of Caldwell when he wasn't looking, Sheppard nodded, "I have a feeling the entire SGC is going to know; I know I want a copy of those pictures." He smiled mischievously, "This is going to be fun!"

Sheppard looked around for Rodney and didn't see him, "Teyla, do you know anything about Rodney? I haven't seen him yet."

She smiled shyly and said, "He should be here shortly, colonel." From her expression, Sheppard felt a sense of foreboding.

A few minutes later, Rodney and a contingent of his scientists did appear. First to enter, with the original Star Trek theme playing in the background, was a group was led by scientists dressed as Spock, Scotty, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov along with Dr. Keller who was dressed as Veena from the episode "Menagerie," McKay's favorite female character.

Following behind them was a group of Starfleet security officers, the infamous red shirts, surrounding someone they could barely see. As the crowd began to get a glimpse of who it was, the laughter rose in crescendo, and the applause was louder than Woolsey and Caldwell had received. They were applauding for one Dr. Rodney McKay, dressed as Captain James T. Kirk, who was in turn wearing a costume. He had on a very unruly dark wig, an old Atlantis jacket over his Starfleet uniform, and a hand lettered paper id badge pinned to it that identified him as one Lt. Colonel John Sheppard USAF Flyboy. The crowd was roaring, Rodney was beaming, and Sheppard was glad he was wearing pads because he was contemplating tackling Rodney.

Rodney walked directly to Sheppard, with a very self-satisfied grin spread across his face, "Well, fly boy, looks like even Captain Kirk thinks he should be you."

"Rodney…" Sheppard, stood up, moving inches from Rodney's face, nearly nose to nose with the scientist. Rodney swallowed and meekly said, "You aren't going to hit me are you?" His face contorted into a grimace, waiting on what Sheppard was going to do.

Sheppard continued to glare at the scientist-Capt. Kirk wanna be until he couldn't contain his laughter any longer. "Rodney, you are too damn clever for you own good, you got me. This is a great costume. Besides, I have always known you wanted to be me, you didn't have to hide behind Captain Kirk to make that happen!"

With that, Sheppard sat down, leaned back in his chair and grinned at Rodney. Rodney sat down across from Sheppard and smugly smiled. "I did get you, didn't I? You weren't expecting this and I surprised the hell out of you. I am good, aren't I?"

Ignoring Rodney, Sheppard turned to Jennifer, "Jennifer, you look lovely, nice costume." Sheppard was smiling approvingly at Jennifer, making certain Rodney knew he was clearly enjoying the view.

She blushed slightly, "Thank you, colonel. You look quite handsome and do justice to that uniform."

Frowning, Rodney replied, "Yeah…well…he'd still rather be Kirk."

While the others were chatting, McKay leaned over to Sheppard, tapping his shoulder pads. "Great choice for a costume, John, brings back a lot of wonderful memories. Despite all the bad things that happened since we arrived here, those were good times with good people. We shouldn't forget them, especially on a night like this. Good call."

"Thanks." That was all that John Sheppard could say in reply at the moment.

"And Sheppard…" the colonel glanced back at Rodney, "Thanks for the party and don't tell me you didn't do this. I know you too well." Sheppard again had nothing to say, so he changed the subject.

"You gotta go see Woolsey and Caldwell, before Teal'c finds out and puts them both in the infirmary." Rodney looked puzzled. Sheppard continued, "Wait till you see. By the way, where's Zelenka? I figured this would be his kind of party."

Rodney shook his head, "He and his little band of merry geeks were planning something, but he wouldn't tell me what it was. I haven't seen him since this morning."

Woolsey and Caldwell stopped by their table for a few minutes, both looking a bit uncomfortable but seemingly enjoying themselves. After they walked away, one of the Daedalus officers, Major Marks, who was dressed as Magnum, PI complete with fake mustache, came over to Sheppard. He told him that, according to his sources, General Landry had apparently 'requested' that the two men participate in the festivities. He said that Caldwell had tried to talk to the general out of making them dress up, and he wouldn't go for it. So Caldwell asked Landry what he suggested they dress up as; Landry had said something to the effect that he didn't care, go as Apophis and Teal'c. Marks didn't think the general meant it literally, but Caldwell decided he and Woolsey could blame Landry if Teal'c took offense.

They were enjoying watching the kids play games; talking about the costumes, and telling tales of Halloween back on Earth when Sheppard noticed Teyla go pale. He followed her line of vision and paled a bit himself. Ronon had gotten to his feet, Sheppard right behind him, and Rodney had pushed away from the table with a confused look on his face. Coming through the darkened entrance to the mess hall amid the fog were several figures surrounded by gray light with large green glowing orbs floating above them, Sheppard and his team froze for a moment before they rushed toward the new arrivals.

The fact that the 'ghosts' were actually Dr. Zelenka and his science team didn't register with the four people running toward them until they were right in front of them. It was then that they realized that Zelenka and his fellow geeks were each covered by a large amount of sheer grey fabric that was lit from underneath by white rope lights. Their heads were covered in the same sheer fabric, and on top of their heads were two round objects filled with green LED lights. Sheppard took a deep breath before he spoke.

"Radek…sorry, you startled us."

"I can see that, colonel," Zelenka nervously answered, pointing to Ronon's blaster, which was about five inches from the scientist's face.

"Ronon put that thing away," Sheppard ordered. He started to turn back to Zelenka when he realized that Ronon had a weapon; looking back at the big guy he asked, "What are you doing with that thing at this party, anyway?"

"Can never be too careful, Sheppard." Sheppard shook his head and turned back to Zelenka.

"Radek, where did you get the idea for these costumes?"

"We found a reference to an old, unusual Pegasus race in the Ancient database, colonel. The Ancients described them as swirling grey light with large green orbs floating on top. We thought it would be easy to recreate and fun to be characters from Pegasus that no one would know." Looking at the expression on the colonel's face, Zelenka surmised that maybe the colonel did know about this race after all.

"No, problem, Dr. Zelenka but tomorrow morning, you, Rodney and I are going to check out that database. We might be able to enlighten you somewhat about your choice of costumes. Come on, you guys need to come on in and have some fun."

As they continued into the mess hall, Zelenka remarked to Sheppard, "That is costume from football game you made us watch from the time we got here. I like that you remembered, colonel. I am not football fan, but I enjoyed the time we all spent together when we first got here and did not know if we would ever return home.

Sheppard smiled, "Me too, Radek; me too."

After taking a few more steps, Sheppard stopped and whispered to Zelenka, "Hey, you got some of your infamous brew around?"

Zelenka grinned, "Of course…once children have gone, I believe punch will be spiked."

Sheppard slapped Zelenka on the back, sending the green orbs bouncing back and forth, "You are my kind of alien. Let's go have some fun."

_The end_

* * *

**_Thanks for reading! Happy Halloween!_**


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